[Yellowstone]:

$4,000 · Offered by William Reese Company

MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS. YELLOW-STONE NAT'L PARK [caption title]. A scarce and very attractive lithographed view of the Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone, published by the prolific Chicago firm of Kurz & Allison. Though perhaps better known today for their series of retrospective Civil War chromolithographs, Kurz & Allison were always ready to illustrate the popular trends of the day with their idealized but impressive views, which Peters describes as "the very spirit of lithography." This large illustration of Yellowstone is no different, portraying a group of intrepid explorers or early tourists, including a man climbing the springs, three other men armed with rifles in the foreground, and a woman seated on a mule watching through a looking glass.Public interest in Yellowstone propagated quickly following the Washburn and Hayden surveys of 1870-72, and its remarkable natural beauty as portrayed in William Jackson's photographs and the paintings of Thomas Moran swiftly made the new National Park an object of wonder. This rendition does not appear to emulate any specific one of Jackson's iconic images, but it is clearly inspired by several photographs taken of the springs, including several striking pictures of Nathaniel Langford and Thomas Moran climbing atop the formation. The firm of Kurz & Allison was never reluctant to issue prints in response to the public zeitgeist, and the publication of this dramatic view nearly two decades after the return of the expedition is a testam

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